August 23rd, a Hong Kong tour bus carrying 25 people in Manila, Philippines was hijacked. After the hijacker set free 6 hostages in the morning, he again set free two more hostages int he afternoon, 3 children and 3 adults were subsequently released. That night, Philippines’ police stormed the bus and shot dead the hijacker, and allegedly rescued hostages are walking out of the bus.

In Shenzhen hotel watching the local Hong Kong channel. The Philippine police are simply too valiant [sarcasm], not even able to break the glass window after half an hour. I predict the hostages were all killed.

puma_4:

Philippine police work is too poor, give this to the chengguan and it’ll be taken care of in minutes.

春来:

If you couldn’t handle it, why didn’t you say earlier? We could’ve airlifted a truck of chengguan there to help.

puma_4:

Sigh, the whole world is watching the joke that is the Philippines police.

休利特:

Fuck, after 20 minutes, they only managed to make a few small holes [in the windows/glass]. Either this tour bus is too mighty/powerful or Philippine special police [SWAT] are too mentally handicapped.

The ridiculous thing is that in they ended up going in through the emergency door in the back of the bus…fuck, is this bunch of special police stupid or what? Wasting over 20 minutes, what were they doing earlier?

远古越:

These police, this level [of competence…is unbelievable]!

puma_4:

Hong Kong buses are so high quality, that our Filipino friends can’t break them down.

么米XSL:

Filipino country people, they’ve never been in a major situation.

休利特:

From 10 in the morning till now. This much time and they hadn’t even figure out the bus’s structure. The intelligence of Southeast Asian monkey’s truly cannot be complimented. I bet even the gunman was becoming impatient…

阿豪哥:

Good show good show, comparable to American blockbusters.

尾大光绒:

So tragic, I’m watching the live broadcast, Australia-Asia TV. They should’ve just blown up that guy’s head when he was at the window earlier. Looks like the Heavenly Kingdom’s [China’s] police still have the right idea [referring to the aggressiveness of Chinese police, such as in this example].

过猴山:

Philippine police are using real people for anti-terrorist exercises.

三宅一生:

Really don’t understand what those people who are still looking on at the commotion are thinking. Have they played too much CS [Counter-Strike], thinking those who died can respawn with full health?

DKman:

The Philippines’ two great dangers.Soldiers and police.

国王的房间:

NEVER TRAVEL TO PHILLIPPEANE

哈喽哈喽:

If this tour bus were full of Americans, what would the situation be like?

舞搞百叶结:

It’s over, they’re all dead. The Filipino monkeys are all idiots.

homechangshu:

All of China forbids traveling to the Philippines for 3 years.

坍台王子:

The difficulty of a bus rescue is very high~I imagine it will becomes a new training topic for CT [counter-terrorism]~

天棚元帅:

Life is about to become difficult for Hong Kong Filipino domestic help/servants.

宽待山伯爵:

If only China’s CT’s went.

They would charge in, say “get down” in Chinese,

then spray wildly with the 79 [maybe a type of gun], emptying a clip in maybe a few seconds.

If the Hong Kong people can’t understand Chinese [putonghua], then too bad.

老别克:

I see them carrying them out one by one, there is a really uncomfortable feeling in my heart.

我的九月:

The people there have always been very hostile towards our people [Chinese]. The Indonesian monkeys are, Filipino monkeys too.Think back to the 1998 Indonesian riots.So, if you’re going to go vacation, go somewhere farther, and if you can avoid Southeast Asia, avoid it, it is not safe.

木林森林木:

This is the level of the Philippines and they still want to fight China in the South China Sea. Several trucks of chengguan will suffice.

爷爷:

At least they can live broadcast in the Philippines, so we know how they died.

都市步兵团:

One can well imagine that this video will become a classic bad example for the counter-terrorism units of various countries.

flugel:

The Philippines’ high IQ police [sarcasm], trying to break the bus door and dropping the hammer inside, trying to pull open the door and having the rope snap, only to later realize that they could open the back door…

typhoon:

The Philippines police are also just nonchalant/not taking their jobs seriously. If they storm in and things don’t go well, lives are lost, and some foreigners die, oh well.

strong:

The killed were Hong Kong compatriots, I feel really awful.

What do you think of how the Philippines hostage situation was handled?

Its time for China to wake up and stand up against the enemy and fight along the west against these monkeys.

Potato

Good Fredric, you can go and fight there but don’t wet your pants :D

There is actually nothing to laugh about in this tragedy but you Fredric. I remember when a Filipino tourist was killed at Tiananmen Square because some idiot mistook him as Japanese and happened to hate the Japanese.

But I did not see any racist reactions over the incident. Maybe it’s just little men like you Fredric, Internet heroes.

mel

yeah, i agree with potato,.. FIlipinos never did condemn any raise despite of the fact that the filipino workers are being abused or even violently killed by chinese people.. we, FILIPINOS deserve the same respect that we were giving to all the people in hongkong and china.. our government never even banned any FILIPINOS to work or go to their country despite of all the unpleasant things that you were doing to our country men . i hope that people should realize that we must not be judged by a single incident. because Filipinos are good and hospitable in nature.

peace

GRABE KA!!! OVER REACTION!!!!!

xxx

are we?
ok fine……….
yes we look like monkeys(beautiful monkeys )at least we are not mongoloid gorillas!!!!!!!!!!

kokoleen

even if the hong kong fights in the philippines , the cannot restore the lives of the deceased victims . its useless and they are wasting their energy .

Potatoers

Fredic, do you think the west would stand with you to fight the other Asians??? THINK AGAIN!!!! If that happens, they’ll kill you first then save the other AsianS!!!!!!
You don’t have brains…!!! LOL!

Last Resort

Fuck off .. who the hell are you to talk like that to them .. what if your nations was called a Monkey .. look what your nations is doing eating fetus ! so much more of a monkey ! u fag ! everyone should not be blamed for what one man did ! no one ever want this to happen !

avatar

only devil loves war, like you

daniel

fuck you, let’s war..

leo

you hypocrite people. some chinese are hypocrite. they just think of themselves, but when they smuggle iliegel drugs such as shabu, cocaine you’re killing us also, you’re killing the hope of our nation- the youth. you feel like superior than us, you feel that you care to your own people but you’re not. there are more violence happened in you country than us. this just hypocricy. you feel you sympathize but you’re not. you hypocrite. hypocrites have no place in this world

leo

you hypocrite people. some chinese are hypocrite. they just think of themselves, but when they smuggle iliegel drugs such as shabu, cocaine you’re killing us also, you’re killing the hope of our nation- the youth. you feel like superior than us, you feel that you care to your own people but you’re not. there are more violence happened in you country than us. this just hypocricy. you feel you sympathize but you’re not. you just want to show to the world that yu care. you hypocrite. hypocrites have no place in this world.

…Miaya…

“You hate Filipinos for the hostage fiasco earlier this week, right? Then should I hate Chinese people for the lead poisoning and melamine contamination? We’re not 8, but hundreds, maybe even thousands have suffered? Is it right to blame a whole nation for a mistake of one man? If you do, then you are most certainly DENSE! I don’t want to argue about anything. I’m just stating my take on things.”

I don’t know… give the Chinese Police some unarmed protestors or monks to shoot at and they’re the best in the world.

tommy

GOOD JOB, MPD, you are now the worst SWAT team in the world. I’m sure if the Snow wolf commando unit came in, it would have been handled in 10 minutes. Also if the chinese police are not better than the philipino police then how did they operate the Olympics and the world expo without tragic hostage taking like this.

xxx

Huh??? oh yeah…the Olympics….they all revised it and made computer graphics, manipulated time, lip synced a girls voice because her teeth were rotten and telecast it like it was live TV….tsk tsk…yeah, just like your fireworks!!!!!!

Robex

Ya, definitely they are… But, you are poorer of having horrible English grammar…

GermanY

stupid his grammar is corect! coZ his Speaking american english crazy chinese ass fool!

Simon Hosanna

I watched the whole drama on live TV in Hong Kong. The whole rescue operation was a big joke! The Philippines SWAT team was so amatuer, incompetent, disorganized and ill-equipped to handle the operation. They could neither break the glass panel nor rig open the front door of the bus let alone storm the bus!

When two SWAT members tried to enter the bus through the emergency exit at the back of the bus, they were being fired upon by the gunman. And they exited the bus in no time. At that time, I could hear other members of the SWAT team laughing. It is very disgusting and disappointing to see them behaving like a bunch of school boys. I saw the SWAT team members randomly threw tear gas canisters into the bus through a hole on the glass panel without any objective. Why use tear gas when they couldn’t even storm the bus. I pity all those passengers who were still alive.

The sniper could have shot the gunman earlier when the first hostages were released as I could see the gunman being exposed near the steps of the bus entrance.

I think this sad incident could have been avoided has the bus driver drove on and ignored the gunman who dressed as a policeman when he tried to stop the bus. Just like in any countries, when Police wants to flag down a vehicle, normally, there will be a road block or a few policemen were present. To add insult to injury, the bus driver gave the police incorrect information after his escape by claiming that all the hostages were killed.

The bus driver is indeed a coward! He escaped from the bus at the first opportunity. Like a captain of a ship, he should be the last one to leave his “ship”. He could have played a helpful role if he stayed on in the bus. He could have opened the bus door for the SWAT team to storm the bus. The Philppines Police’s failure to do a professonal job as expected of them has clearly caused the loss of many innocent lives.

The Wade

The role of the police is to try to avoid the loss of any life and that includes the gunman. Having a sniper shoot him while releasing hostages would be a failure and trigger happy because at that point the negotiations were going well as no one had been shot and hostages were being released. No one knew at that time how it would play out.

And the bus driver had no need or obligation to be the last one off the bus. That’s like saying that a building superintendent must be the last person out in a fire. He’s not a trained professional able to handle that situation and is actually just one more liability. To want to get the hell out of a bus with a gunman is a normal response. Not being a hero doesnt automatically make you a coward, it makes you a normal person.

hek

it is so unfortunate that you were not inside the bus. Had you been there, the story would have been entirely different basing from your wits.

Yes, we all wish you were the bus driver so we could have saved more people.

carrot

correction there not even wearing black that means their not SWATS. and sorry for my grammar or so but Filipinoes are not that war freaks blame his IDIOTIC LUNITIC brother and if u really have watch it and understand the languge then you’ll know it his lunitic brother’s fualt

We never wanted it…

But…. Didn’t you know that he is Handcuffed? How will he open the door? hmm? ANswer me. You should know the situation of the bus driver before stating your thoughts…

tzi kung wa

AT this part “The sniper could have shot the gunman earlier when the first hostages were released as I could see the gunman being exposed near the steps of the bus entrance.” in my many years of existence here in the Philippines, i have learned that the people resides in the Philippines are in democratic country. so, they cannot do it easily to snipe the hostage taker because there is a law that is applicable to that situation and that’s what we called due process of law an equal protection.

hellboy

eat my shorts bitch! i’m just wondering what you’d do if you we’re in that same bus…hmmmm

HK111

How do I killed Chinese tourist?

Hawkeye4077

I see yellow hue orb’s. Maybe spirit orbs?

Noypi

Tangaa nimu ui!!!!

Hawkeye4077

What did you say?

buang ka

tangaa daw ka .. lol

USArmy

It is better than in China already, At least they can live broadcast in the Philippines, so we know how they died. Better than the Chinese Police report the hostages were killed before they rush in…

Chinese police are great at setting up and filming staged events for TV, and extorting money from those they should be protecting.

There may be some great SWAT units around China, but I doubt most would do any better than this. There is so much fear to take action in this country, that is unless people feel they are gaining something by doing so.

It’s an awful situation, so I can understand the anger on some level.

Wong

Why would HKers travel to that filthy country in the first place? To handpick maids and nannies?

[To new ChinaSmack readers: there are a lot trolls on this site and, though all comments in the article are translated from Chinese (not always representative), very few comments left under the articles are actually from China. Take this Wong for example, the IP is from Canada. Same applies to comments pretending to be Philippines. I suggest you leaving the trolls alone and not feeding them. Thx. Python]

thepeasant

hey.. fck you.. every country has its good and bad.. you have no right to say what you just said..

bando

welcome to the internet

peace

@thepeasant> your absolutely right!!!!

Lin

This comment made me laugh.

world peace

excuse me ,, for being [rude ] but don’t you think you got a little far on that???! i mean ,, i know that what happened was a tragedy,, and there were a lot of faults committed ,, but to insult our country is a disrespect on our part as a filipino,, we were also shocked with what happened but please let us not make any accusations nor rude commentaries.. :( as one of the citizen of my country,, i would like to extend my condolences to the families of the victims. :(

Rain

Yes I agree he got a little too far there…It was really a tragedy and we Filipinos are also very sad of what happened…Today we have a national day of mourning for all the victims of last monday’s hostage taking…please don’t judge us as a whole, believe it or not, they tried their best there, that’s why it took them the whole day,because the police were trying to preserve life there…i know they are not well equipped and lacked training in situations like these but they tried their best…we feel very sad that it ended the way it did…condolences to the families…

GermanY

fuck that give them symphaty fuck all of them they are calling us nanie’s and servant’s but they never wash their asses after they shit! but we do now who’s the MONKEY”S agian???

agree to that. we were so sad of what happened. we all commit mistakes. let’s learn to forgive :)

ang tanga mo

very weak statement wong! who do you think you are- GOD?

Keitaro-

Try visiting the philippines. you would know why.

Xepher

hey damn you man… every country has its bad sides.. so don’t just fucking say whatever you wanna say

asskickingmotherfucker

try visiting Philippines, wong…you’ll know the answer that philippine police are poor while civilians are rich in special weapons.

blackhunter

hey fuckers you don’t have the right to question why they went here……….

Dianna

Hey, don’t You know You are being rude? We all know what happened yesterday was a tragedy. But to insult our own country is a disrespect to all the Filipinos. So think first before You’re gonna post a comment because You’re not just hurting my feelings but also the feelings of other Filipinos.

yukiAYA

how could you say that the philippines is a filthy country? are you even sure your country isnt?

True Blood

Wong, you’re sooooooooo pathetic and ignorant. I feel bad for peps like you!

I politely ask the attention of the world. Please do not judge and mistreat us (Filipinos) just because of what happened last Monday. through the years, we Filipinos have been serving other countries for our families and we treat you as our own as well. we’ve been doing that for the sake our beloved families.

what had happened was truly a worst tragedy, and NO ONE likes it to happen. please forgive us. it is not easy to forget especially for all the Chinese. but please, please accept our humblest apology. we accepted our weakness and we know that there’s a lot of things we need to improve. but please, i humbly beg you not to judge us or call us in such very rude names. as you all do, we are a nation that holds love for our countrymen. calling us Monkeys gives us much pain.

lets forgive one another and lets all keep moving forward.

TSINOY

RE: Your Comment:
“Wong
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 4:42 am

Why would HKers travel to that filthy country in the first place? To handpick maids and nannies?”

To begin with, they travel to P.I. for two reasons..
1. To see the Philippines.
2. Some of them are looking for something to invest with…
If could notice, there are pure Chinese in Divisoria Mall selling their products. Why do you think these Chinese people go in P.I. to start their business? BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO CHANCE IN THE MAIN LAND CHINA TO LIVE DECENTLY…

emorej

you shit fuck,if you are not really concern about what happen then better for u to shut up.they go to philippines bcoz its their choice to experience beautiful country.for all i know you are lunatic poor bastard that cannot even travel.

Xero

So why are people commenting on the Philippines police being poor? Did it just fly over my head? Hostage situations are obviously difficult.

PING

I felt the same way. Hostage situations are difficult and when Philippine SWAT was called for the tourist bus situation, the solution they came up was a hammer. I bet if you called locksmith in Philippine, he would show up with a hammer too!
Philippine Tourism Industry Motto: Tourists’ safeties are guarantied with Philippine polices with hammers.

noman

i feel horrible watching the hostage drama.. it is really indeed a tragic event… blaming and comparing is not the biggest factor to resolve this kind of situation.. we must learn from it and use it for improvement… much better to ask yourself what if you were there? what would you do? are you sure you can do it when you are already in that kind of situation? there many possibilities… watch the other reports so you will know the whole story…

PING

I was going to insult your idea of use Chinese tourists as live experiment to help Philippine police to learn and improve their work.

But what Chinese can really do. But if this is a bus load of Americans, I think Philippine police rather use the hammer hit themselves than use it on the bus.

May be China should have a permanent military base in Philippine to help their own people and that could be the real solution.

Who knows what next time Philippine police going to experiment? This time is hammer, next time it could be a shovel, where this ends?

Pinoy kami

well u all got angry w/us and ur making us filipino a big joke…. but i believe u reacted all on what media deliberated in the world, sad but half true but i also consider these police,it’s no laughing situation anymore they just used what they have in hands, the hammer u all r saying, was the only thing we have, during this situation, can anyone risk their lives without possessing anything but hammer and ur own life. the president said that they already had the negotiation but someone called the gunman on his phone that made him agitated. means some other person is controlling the gunman… filipino people are much human than what you think, we espect life evn if it is of a criminal or victims, our policemen could not just kill the gunman as you are saying to doit upon releasing children, sick woman, and oldman, isn’t it humanity how can you kill someone trying to emphasize his demmand, but his brother run over the square and shouted that the policemen wnted to kill him, that agitated him him… by wathing inside the bus then while arresting the gunman’s brother started the firing so all of a sudden the entire negotiation were a mess and they have nothing to do but to assult w/out anything for that’s the sad truth about our country, courage and life is what they had to seized these kind of situation….

germany/filipino

hey b4 you say or type anything wash your ass first!
and we dont need your cop’s or police coz we civilians in philippines got ak-47 not the chinese type the klashnikov type fuck our police they are joke’s and we civilians matter’s so fuck of in our chinese noodle brain!

carrot

hahaha funny then tell us how will you open when he put a dead body threre

Yeah, even in the most text-book of operations (Entebbe airport, the Iranian Embassy siege) hostages died. But still, you have to think that the Filipinos made a total mess out of this one – the first attempt achieved nothing except the death of hostages.

the amount of negative comments about the philippines is sickening! hostage situations arent easy! yeah the police force was really bad and frustrating but that doesnt define the whole filipino community! we are all shocked and embarrased about what happened but at least there were still some survivors. i am angry too but no one can stop fate. things that are meant to happen, will happen.

I just hope that the victims families will be well and that they can forgive the selfish man that did this.

R.I.P

Ryan

I would very much like seeing you talk shit when your own family member dies in that bus because of the “elite Philippine SWAT”.
Things are meant to happen, will happen? When you have a bunch of weak, untrained and unorganized SWAT members, You are damn right SHIt is gonna happen!

Buckets of Tuna

“The quality of Philippine police is so poor.”

haha.. Yeah go the high quality Chinese police to roll up their trouser leg, light a cigarette, grow long hairs from a huge mole on their chins and look on. What an improvement that would have been.

david

so poor

even i (a filipino) was very disappointed :|

carrot

yah go torchure your own kids even if they don’t like your way of teaching them

Just too sad a situation.
SWAT team who dared not sweat.
Our hearts go to the innocent tourists.
Tourists bring in money to the Phillipines but bus get hijacked.
Hijacker a former policeman.
A big axe to grind because he was sacked due to alleged corruption.
Should have been shot much earlier.
Now, go to the ends of the world but not to the Phillipines or Indonesia.
If one look back at the 1998 Indonesia riots, you just want a few more tidal tsunamis in that country.
Yet, we donated to the Acehnese.

carrot

then why don’t chinese citizens go back to where they belong at lest there are less prob. to solve here like jobs or even DRUGS o plus human traffic

ONESADFILIPINO

Hey carrot, the Chinese people create job opportunities here in the Philippines. It is to the shame of our poor country who needs to export our workers all over the world since our economy is not sufficient to support our own citizens both skilled and unskilled. World wide, we are thought of as labor-exporters, helpers and laborers. Think before you speak because your comments shame us all. We should be sorry for being inefficient, indifferent, insensitive with our care-free Filipino attitudes especially during this BUS incident. I hope you see the situation in a bigger perspective…

Try to think first before you give judgment to my country, initiate efforts to read tabloids and other newspaper published in the Philippines and if you’re no contented, ask your fellow chines leaving here in the Philippines, most of the drug dealers captured in the my country are Chinese, you are also destroying our future, may Filipinos died or killed because of that drugs created by your citizen, but we cannot condemn your overall citizens, because we believed that the sins of one are the sins also of everybody, think positively, our fellow Filipino kills only around 8 of your citizens, but try to know the number of destroyed Filipino youths because of the illegal drugs coming from Chinese people? If you are educated, perhaps you may able to understand what i mean, we seriously condemn the wrong doing of MENDOZA, his decision to act violently against your citizens were made by him only not by the entire Filipinos. Filipino people contribute lots to the economy of Chinese people, visit our store here in the Philippines, most of the products sold her were produced in a Chinese country. Despite for being a very low in quality, we still patronized it, because we have no other possible options, most of our businessmen here are Chinese. God bless the Philippines

agree

i strongly agree with you Bill..

EP

Never generalize that Indonesian are Chinese hater. I am Indonesian and my family even protect my fellow Chinese during riot 1998. Sometimes you have to be careful on what you post as you spread hate then love.

bando

Isn’t there more details in the news? There wasn’t much on this china smack article.

fuck you chinese people.. wahahaha, chinese people are ugly. your faces look like yellow shit fresh from the toilet bowl and slit eyes that look like filthy vaginas and ponytails that hang like shit. Your dicks are too small just like your fuckingly miniature eyes that you couldn’t even have a proper orgasm. Your language is like todller bullshit. Your asses are too hitty you don’t know how o clean shit off it. FUCK YOU ALL

Chunghwa (af home)

I think you should try a bit harder

saging – oh wait this isn’t 4chan

JohnG

Shame on you for even posting this comment! Your not a Filipino, a true Filipino will not condone nor throw racial slurs at others. This is the exact reason why we become laughing stocks because of idiots like you who use their mouth rather then your brain! I’m Filipino-Chinese and I’m a better Filipino than you!

pure88

are you trying to shame our country once more??? be careful on your words.. stop being racist!

kawawa ka nman u are in a foreign website you are speaking tagalog? chinese wont understand you. Only handful chinese understand english more so tagalog! better get a translator. If u are ashamed being a filipino go to somewhere else.

Yeszha

stop it you are saying that you are proud filipino well philippines hates person like you instead of showing humility and showing your sincerity you are a shame in our country low life !!!

sympathy

you’re right! I hate him.. trying to be a good guy but not saying the right thing. that’s sad!

jason

this is not a real filipino he’s just a chinese trying to make us look more bad in front of chinese people JohnG i’m a chinese-filipino too and better than this b**ch

JohnG

so your siding with “a proud filipino” in hurling racial slurs at chinese people? wake up dude and before making comments read what was said. I’m only condoning what was said.

anne de leon

i am a filipino too.. but do you think with what you have said will help? no, it will just add a bad side of the filipino like you.. think!!

peace

i dont think you are a filipino, maybe your pretending to be a filipino.., sa mga snasabi mo lalo k lang nkkdagdag sa sitwasyopn, its our fault.., why are you talking like that? if you dont have a good thing to say.. then, KEEP YOUR FUCKING MOUTH SHUT!!! GREAT PRETENDER!!!!!

Ssssshhhh

what a shame! tagging yourself as a proud filipino. you should be the one taken hostage yesterday..
I bet ur brains are too small to know only dirty words. Just shut up if you have nothing good to say.

peace

Are you a Filipino or JUST PRETENDING?

jessie

hey bro..dont say such a word like that because God created all of us in this world,

yall sure youre a filipino??? coz they sure dont speak like that. f u. thats not being proud of hu u are by being a shit speaker.

Boang

Yes I am a Filipino what I said that I symphatize with had happened nothing more nothing less and please do not hurt any of my brother Filipinos and sister Filipinas in you place that is if you are a Hongkong national. They had nothing to do with what happened here in RP why lose their jobs in Hongkong? and please do not shit me because if you do that you are most shit person I’ve ever saw! You fuckin asshole you. Donald Tsang should have fired you son a bitch..asshole

well i remember seeing a deranged guy holding a girl hostage a while ago in Guangzhou. in the end of the day he got 1 shot in the head and 3 in the body. people were saying the policewoman was overeager and used excessive force.
but still, the hostage walked away with nothing more than a few slashes, so i guess the police in PRC handled hostage situation a little better than their Filipino counterpart.

Honestly, in both cases – a good police sniper team was called for. Seeing the video in either case – you have perps that are just begging for suicide by cop, but want to take one or many people with them before they die. One well placed shot and it is over.

TSINOY

One shot to the hostage taker was a good idea, but, consider that it is still a human life.. The reason why the incident prolong, is due to of NOT TO TAKE LIFE. That’s why there is negotiations. If we just take life by NOT using all available means to save lives (both the perpetrator and the victim), we would take it without giving any chance to the derailed person…

True, it’s easy to conclude after the incident but during the time it was transpiring, consider first NOT to Take Life.. If you recall, the police acted only after a report from the bus driver that the hostages are being shot. That’s the signal to use deadly force.

We blame them from taking inefficient action, yet, we failed to consider that these policemen RISK their own life for the other.

ungentrified

I don’t see why they couldn’t have just tricked the hostage taker by telling him that he got his job back. After all, it seems that it was only after his demand was rejected by the local ombudsman did he decide to start shooting.

Rick in China

People in that mental state wouldn’t be ‘tricked’ by something so simple. They’ve already committed. The moment they jack a bunch of hostages at gunpoint there’s no going back to “ok see you on Monday”.

That’s akin to suggesting to hostage negotiaters “agree to everything until they are open for a sniper shot.” It only works once.

ungentrified

“That’s akin to suggesting to hostage negotiaters “agree to everything until they are open for a sniper shot.” It only works once.”

That would have been more of a plan than launching an abortive assault, retreating and then returning once the gunman had already finished off most of the hostages. Not to mention all the little mistakes (failing to throw stun grenades properly, accidentally tossing the sledgehammer through the bus’s door). The situation was difficult but the incompetence on display is hard to ignore.

Rick in China

While we’re making suggestions, I’d suggest that you keep your day job, and not venture off into fantasizing about a military tacticians job…it’s easy to watch a situation on video and criticize everything without knowing the situation, the resources, etc on hand, not to mention the mess of variables at play.

sakura chan

I agree. It’s so easy to criticize. I wonder how those people who said this and this should be done. Can actually save lives in a real hostage situation.

jpr

axactly. so sad ;-( why it ended up like this.

Zictor

I’m shocked at how easy it was for the to criticize the country and it’s population, hostage situations are difficult!

I guess I can’t really be surprised, the Philippines are an “inferior” country after all in China’s eyes.

Mikeez

Geez this was the most PATHETIC hostage rescue operation I’ve ever seen in my life! The tourists woulda been totally better off if they took on the dude themselves.

leister

wtf! maybe Philippines did a bad move in a terrible situation, but condemning them for not doing their best is just a crap, no one would like the hostages to get hurt, but unfortunately that’s the moment you can’t take back after all. who’s the real monkey? Chinese who’s keep selling subpar / pirated / imitation brands and equipments?

filipino here
my hunch is right
i know this news will reach chinasmack
the background of the hostage:
all he wanted was to get his job back
the ombudsman did not appealed his case
also its the police that killed them because of the false alarm that everyone is dead, damn bus driver
also using a police car to break a hydraulic door
epic fail SWAT

JohnG

Sincere condolences to the families of the victims.. the handling of the situation was the poorest I’ve seen. A simple request turned into a blood bath. Our police and officials are only good at one thing and that is being corrupt! aside from that they have no balls to even sacrifice themselves for the welfare of the hostages and the people. No clear chain of command, no concrete plan, no execution! I wonder why they still question the public’s confidence in them, now that the whole world is looking at us again as laughing stocks..

KeninChina

I’m not a big fan of Chinese police, but I’ve seen some of their men in action, and I dont mean the big bellied fatties who walk around in their uniforms.

I’ve seen undercover cops pop out of nowhere during CNY at a train station and within two seconds, they had a dozen dudes pinned on the floor. I covered a story during the Olympics and the special cops who were in charge of the various hotspots and these “cops” were of a different caliber than the ones we see at our local police station…

… they were more akin to robots

There’s also a number of youtube videos of Chinese hostage situations where Chinese law enforcements pull off some pretty amazing manuevers.

In all, I believe the biggest problem with the Manila hostage situation was the planning. The man was not a terrorist, he’s just a disgruntled police who’s laid off asking for something that’s easily negotiable. If it were China, they’d negotiate a deal AND THEN shoot him when he thinks he’s in the clear!

clems

We have different laws, In the Phil, the rule is when the criminal is not hostile no need to use force especially if he negotiates. Hostage Management in the Phil is in two stages. Negotiation and Tactical Force. During negotiation no force is necessary that explains during the release of some hostages he was not shot. thE use of force is always the last option. If the sniper shoots him during the release of the victims all those policemen in the area will be charged of HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION and all of them maybe discharge from the service or worst put to jail. Our country is a democratic one we give equal importance of life to criminal and not. everybody has the right to live.
I agree the situation is very simple our president could have called him or even give him a note that he will be reinstated and the situation will probably well done! specially the hostage taker is just asking what is due to him. Hes a good police man and a retirable one, hes man commits wrong allegedly without him knowing but by doctrine of command responsibility he was charged of extorion. He thinks he was denied of justice coz his appeal took so many months and nothing happened and resorted to this. Hes act is still not right, filipinos condemn it too, while he has legitimate cause hes action is totally unforgivable especially of the loss of lives. In your country i guess you have different practice.
Admittedly, there were too many flaws on it, media in the first place should have not been there! What went wrong there was when the bro of the hostage taker was arrested and this was seen the taker thru the tv monitor in the bus, he immediately shoots while hes reinstatement order was on the way. When the driver escaped and declared that everybody in the bus were dead… and there were already shooting happened inside thats when the assault ordered. However they fail to calculate the strength of the windshield. its made of fiber glass its not like ordinary bus they practice earlier.. in less than two minutes they breakin the bus, but in actual operation no amount of practice is applicable when real bullets are flying right in your face.! maybe we should give them credit for facing those bullets for the lives of the hk nationals. Had our policemen all died in that situation maybe things now are different, Coz they could if the hostage taker fired at the walls of the bus specially he saw thier positions on tv. They maybe declared hero but in cadavers! and maybe you chinese are happy now.
We, as filipinos are truly very sorry for the loss of lives of your brothers but please understand no body wanted tragedy. We all love life and i think everybody does. but reading comments from here, its even worst than the hostage taking- it encourages hatred for the two races in asia. we have many chinese brothers here living in the phils they can tell you people they enjoyed equal rights of a filipino in this country. Nobody descriminates. Drug operators here are mostly chinese nationals, DID YOU HEAR A SINGLE WORD FORM US GENERALIZING YOU ALL? labelling you slanted eyes monkeys? Not one filipino done that. So if u are rational people, everybody out there pleasE stop INSULTING OUR BELOVED COUNTRY. PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO.

vic

Coming from a HK citizen,gotta say the Phillipines police are to blame here.I fully understand hostage situations are not easy and it ending with casualties is not uncommon. But there are few things I really need to point out,first they wasted many opportunities to arrest or kill him in the afternoon.During lunch and when he released some hostages earlier in the afternoon,there are moments where his whole body is exposed to snipers and his hands are not even on the gun.I would like to ask where’s the sniper at that time and wtf is he doing? Before the killer started killing, police spokesman said violence(taking out the hostage taker) is not a priority which is strategically wrong! The gunner is solo,general concensus is you can shoot once you caught him without hostages nearby. Or you could storm the bus the moment he released hostages,you could check video footage,he was really off-guard by then. The mentality of not using lethal force at any possible moments really contribute to the tragedy.

Even you are not going to snipe him ,why not pretend to fulfill all his demands to get hostages released. He wants his job back just tell him you got it,I mean you can always arrest him should he leave the bus,how hard could that be?

That plus trying to use a rope to break open a hydraulics door and fail miserably,slipping a sledgehammer inside the bus which could result in more injuries and did I see a gas bomb bounced back to yourself? I mean come on. And you even arrest his brother to further aggravate the situation.No media blackout,you just draw a zone and allow them broadcast whatever they want during a hostage situation. His family or friends could easily feedback to him via cellphone making him aware that when the police are about to raid.Yea we got clarity but does that save the hostages? No

Seems to me you guys are trying your best to get more dead ppl than alive ones.We don’t expect you guys risking your lives to save foreigners that you hold animosity towards but do you guys have no professionalism at all? Those primitive equipment and ineffective strategy really pissed many of us watching live braodcast,and not just the Chinese I believe.

All in all,I do believe those 8 deaths are totally preventable.No I won’t hate Phillipines ppl after this incident and I believe most Chinese from HK won’t cuz we consider ourselves rational. If there’s anything that we hold grudges on,it’s your incompetent police force,that’s all. No point spreading racial hate any further.

Aussie

I saw the thing live from my hotel room in Hong Kong, the way a Pino cop tried to breakdown the main door with a sledgehammer but ended up flying the sledgehammer into the bus as he didn’t hold onto it tight enough was an epic fail. They then attempted to pull the door open with ropes, but the rope broke!
I stopped by Manila some 8 years ago, it was a jungle back then, looks like nothing has changed.

Penduko

Ha ha

Jungle really?

Maybe you aussie folks try giving back the aborigines their land…

star (aka beatriz & pupu)

thats true and correct… youre rational and everything well said.. i hope some chinese would read this and get ashamed of themselves by blaming all filipinos for what happened… nobody likes it to happen… no human in sane condition would love to see that happen…

[Note: Please do not use different names to pretend to be more than one person.]

jerky

the hostage dram in the Philippines are very sad because many life are done. Filipino police are difficult situation their do not no what action first and equipments of police are not sufficient weapon. what happen the government is no action clearly. Chinese government declare. all chines people in the Philippines are back to the country., Filipino image are black listed it so embarrassing.

Should have send chengguan to get the job done. The newly elected President said the police force miscalculated the gunman’s final move. It seems the police were hoping the long delay would wear off the gunman and maybe the gunman will doze off and fell asleep like a baby.
Maybe the police should have send a Filipino prostitute to strip and play nude games with the gunman. The gunman will have no choice but to put down his automatic weapon then the police can charge into the bus to arrest him. What you guys think?

Angelito Obra Barrozo

as if you knew what to do. the hostage area is near manila bay so wind currents can’t be predicted and is dangerous for snipers to shoot the hostage taker. We, Filipinos, look before jumping.

KeninChina

This was not a complicated hostage situation! The kidnapper wasnt some political religious fanatic asking for the release of criminal masterminds or independence of some small province. He was just a dude who’s in financial troubles, and he’s desperate for a job so he can support his family. There are salary negotiations more complex than this!

The people on the bus could have negotiated for their lives and it would have been better! Just give the guy some money damnit, nobody had to die!

I hope the families of the 9 victims are well compensated by the Philippines government.

Kidnapping and targeting of all types of foreigners in the Phillipines, especailly in the southern islands like Mandanao, is very common. It is a dangerous place and no one should go there.

Hi.

Maybe you went to the wrong place. :>

pinoy

well u all got angry w/us and ur making us filipino a big joke…. but i believe u reacted all on what media deliberated in the world, sad but half true but i also consider these police,it’s no laughing situation anymore they just used what they have in hands, the hammer u all r saying, was the only thing we have, during this situation, can anyone risk their lives without possessing anything but hammer and ur own life. the president said that they already had the negotiation but someone called the gunman on his phone that made him agitated. means some other person is controlling the gunman… filipino people are much human than what you think, we espect life evn if it is of a criminal or victims, our policemen could not just kill the gunman as you are saying to doit upon releasing children, sick woman, and oldman, isn’t it humanity how can you kill someone trying to emphasize his demmand, but his brother run over the square and shouted that the policemen wnted to kill him, that agitated him him… by wathing inside the bus then while arresting the gunman’s brother started the firing so all of a sudden the entire negotiation were a mess and they have nothing to do but to assult w/out anything for that’s the sad truth about our country, courage and life is what they had to seized these kind of situation….

Please resign P-NOY

I cannot agree with you about this. Police are there to save lifes, there is no excuse for the lack of equipment and a lack of plan B. They had more than 10 hours, but is that the best your swat team can come up with? No one is blaming Philipine population for this, all the anger and hatred is towards the government and authorities mishandling what seems like a very resolvable situation turn into tragedy and unnecessary loss of life. Most of my pinoy mates are embarrassed by their own governent’s incompetence. It is really unbelievable, think about it if the gunman is crazy he wouldn’t have wait so long to start killing. Actually from the word of the surviving victim, the gunman told them initially that he doesn’t have plan to kill them. FACT1: Philipine is not a safe place to go to with one of the worst crime and kidnapping case in Asia, and the government is doing nothing to change this. FACT2:no one should stereotype an average Philipino with the stupidity and incompetence of their corrupted government and useless police force.

Miguel

We Filipinos are outraged as well at the incompetence of our own police force, and we mourn with our Chinese brothers over the tragic loss of life.

We don’t like what happened either. It was poorly handled, it was downright stupid.

We give you permission to slam our police force’s stupidity and complacency.

But we do not give you permission to slam us as a race. Do not generalise us as a country. We are not all idiots.

inyourface

yeah, it’s easy for you to say, Filipinos are stupid… blah blah blah… oh, did everyone know that 60% of Filipinos have chinese blood?… hmmm… and oh, we have a half chinese blood president who wasn’t able to do anything productive yesterday. :)

Nobody wanted anyone to die. Let’s not say we can do better because we weren’t there. It is extremely difficult once you are in the real situation.

It’s easy to hate and start calling names. Why do we have to go down the path of hate. Filipinos, Chinese. We are all brothers and sisters. The police put their life on the line and tried their best with what they can do. Nobody wanted anyone to die, please remember that. This is not race vs. race. Please mind what you say.

em

This is something that happens everywhere. I feel angry that ignorant people keep on commenting negatively about Filipinos in general. If you have never been to the Philippines and if you have never met a Filipino then avoid making generalized comments.
Chinese people in the Philippines are treated kindly. Filipinos are beautiful people inside and out so I feel angry about the negative comments. We have to bear in mind that The Filipinos are in no way rejoicing about this news. They are also shocked and aggrieved so people need to back off.
Take a good look around the country where you came from… Can you honestly say that this sort of thing doesn’t happen there? I am guessing something even worse.
No matter what our race is, it doesn’t alter the fact that we are all capable of feeling hurt, shocked and aggrieved. So if you have even an ounce of decency stop generalizing.

Repost

“A letter from a teenage Filipino to the WHOLE WORLD”
As you are reading this letter, I bet that you have seen/heard about what happened earlier in our country.
Tourists were hostages of a policeman here, Rolando Mendoza. After a few hours of the horrible crime, some of the victims were dead including the hostage-taker.
I wrote this letter not just to apologize but also to let everyone know that we Filipinos are not all like Mendoza. We are loving and good-hearted people.
For so many years, our country has been standing tall and surpassing every dilemma; be it small or big. Years ago (back when I wasn’t born yet), you have watched us fight for what we think is right. We fought for the democracy of our nation.. The EDSA revolution. But that’s just one out of many.
Second. We Filipinos have been serving other countries for our families and we treat you as our own as well. With all due respect, I thank you all for giving us the trust through the years. For helping us to become what we are now.
The Philippines is more than just a group of islands. We are a nation of strong and remarkable people. A country of beauty and love known to be hospitable and well-valued. I humbly apologize for what happened tonight. No one in this world would want something like that to happen for life should be valued.
I politely ask the attention of the world. Please do not judge and mistreat us just because of what happened tonight. I have been searching the net and found terrible things. Hong Kong advices to avoid travels here, China and HK bans Filipinos and that Philippines is the worst place to go.
I can’t blame you for what you have decided but I hope that you could understand. Our country is now in a sea of problems. And I know for sure that we helped you in a way or another. Let peace and understanding reign this time.
I know that this letter will just be trash but I wish that you would understand. On behalf of the Philippine population.. WE ARE SORRY.
As a song puts it…
And I believe that in my life I will see an end to hopelessness, giving-up and suffering. And we all stand together this one time then no one will get left behind. Stand up for life. STAND UP FOR LOVE
Sincerely yours,
Reigno Jose Dilao

Catbalogan City, Samar Philippines

Alyssa

I wish people wouldn’t blame the SWAT team or call them incompetent. They’re trying their best. The SWAT team may have made mistakes in handling this situation, butthey’re the ones putting their lives on the line. I think they deserve some credit for that.

roger

too bad the ombudswoman in the philippines not given what the hostage taker wants. this agency ignore what hostage taker wants and the lives of 15 nationals chinese hostages. now because of the strategy of this agency. the filipino people now ashamed about hosted drama ended.

sympathy

not that easy to just grant him what he wants. He’s kicked off on service because of extortion.

hilariouscoppers

Considering the huge level of corruption in that police force, the guy must’ve felt singled out for being fired for extortion.

cheng

hilariouscoppers,,,, where in the hell did you get the news that corruption in the police force is in huge level??? recheck your info…. You are absolutely WRONG….yellow eye-slanted monkey!

Go to helll

crazy

the situation is getting difficult because of the media.
Actually,Mendoza didn’t intent to killed those people if the media didn’t broadcast what the police are doing to his brother who in that time were trying to arrest because he accused as accessory to the crime.He saw all the perspective views while he is in the bus because it has a TV.So he got angry and give a shot using his M-16 that count five times.

jhun reyes

” THERE IS NO GUARANTEE! ”
even if we have complete and state of the art facilities, well trained police! there is no such thing as under control! we are part of nature that is very hard to stop! and so with Mr. Mendoza he will not get his demands he will end up in jail and have nothing at all! wake up call to our PNP etc…maybe…? but still there is no guarantee! lets just pray!

admit the filipino police man and the negotiator also the strategy of the ombudsman was very poor. they egnore the rolando mendoza wants and especially the lives of the 15 chinese nationals hostages. so ashamed. now philippines facing the very ashamed happens ended.

Whew

i’m a Filipino but i condemned the way the police and the government handles the case of Mr. Mendoza. for the part of the police they shouldn’t captured the relatives of the hostage takers that triggers Mendoza to get mad. on the first place the hostage taker has no intention of killing the hostages, if he has so, then why he had let go few hostages yesterday morning, ask food for the hostages, and gasoline for the aircondition. for the part of the government, mendoza had already requested for a review of his case because he is really framed up from that extortion case, but the ombudsman ignores it, and during the crime scene they gave a handwritten letter saying they will think about it of having the case of Mendoza to be reviewed. and then suddenly they will capture all of mendoza’s relative declaring them as one of the suspects. Mendoza griefs of having been dismissed from duty without knowing the ombudsman decision with his case. the ombudsman took away his retirement benefits, and he will never be able to work in any government jobs. what’s worst is that he has only 1 year left before he retires but they fired him up. many Filipinos believe that many police officials are insecure with mendoza and thinks that he is a threat for their promotion.

MUST READ

I would like to share this patriotic letter from a young man Reigno Jose Dilao. He is a teenager, a student, and a Filipino who has a big heart for his country.

August 23, 2010

“A letter from a teenage Filipino to the WHOLE WORLD”

As you are reading this letter, I bet that you have seen/heard about what happened earlier in our country.

Tourists were hostages of a policeman here, Rolando Mendoza. After a few hours of the horrible crime, some of the victims were dead including the hostage-taker.

I wrote this letter not just to apologize but also to let everyone know that we Filipinos are not all like Mendoza. We are loving and good-hearted people.

For so many years, our country has been standing tall and surpassing every dilemma; be it small or big. Years ago (back when I wasn’t born yet), you have watched us fight for what we think is right. We fought for the democracy of our nation.. The EDSA revolution. But that’s just one out of many.

Second. We Filipinos have been serving other countries for our families and we treat you as our own as well. With all due respect, I thank you all for giving us the trust through the years. For helping us to become what we are now.

The Philippines is more than just a group of islands. We are a nation of strong and remarkable people. A country of beauty and love known to be hospitable and well-valued. I humbly apologize for what happened tonight. No one in this world would want something like that to happen for life should be valued.

I politely ask the attention of the world. Please do not judge and mistreat us just because of what happened tonight. I have been searching the net and found terrible things. Hong Kong advices to avoid travels here, China and HK bans Filipinos and that Philippines is the worst place to go.

I can’t blame you for what you have decided but I hope that you could understand. Our country is now in a sea of problems. And I know for sure that we helped you in a way or another. Let peace and understanding reign this time.

I know that this letter will just be trash but I wish that you would understand. On behalf of the Philippine population.. WE ARE SORRY.

As a song puts it…

And I believe that in my life I will see an end to hopelessness, giving-up and suffering. And we all stand together this one time then no one will get left behind. Stand up for life. STAND UP FOR LOVE

Sincerely yours,

Reigno Jose Dilao

Catbalogan City, Samar

(End of Letter)

jose

funny! many racist mongoloids here! what a shame!

Carley

Hayyss. They really dont know what they doing. I am a Filipino but i was too angry while watching those policeman not taking any good action on the situation. They were too unprofessional & untrained police. How pathetic we are to have those kind of policeman. My sympathy and my condolences to the family of victims. Have a rest in peace !!!

part of the story…
PLEASE don’t judge all of us FILIPINOS..
We have our own individual personalities..
We don’t have everything under control..
We are sorry for the lost lives too..
Even sorry for Mr. Mendoza..

We deserve respect afterall…

Bob

Coming from a US citizen, I agree completely with you. Don’t judge a whole nation on the actions of a few. and stop with the childish name calling

KungFu Kid

Were police shooting at the gunman, or did they miss and hit the hostages instead?